Articles by Grist staff

Have You Spotted Owls?

Spotted-Owl Populations Declining The northern spotted owl, a species that took on huge symbolic significance in the early ’90s when activists used its protected status to sharply curtail logging in federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, is once again the center of controversy. A study released yesterday shows that spotted-owl populations in the region […]

Fear in a Handful of Dust

Household Dust Carries Toxic Chemicals According to a pair of new studies, common household dust carries “unexpectedly high” levels of PBDEs — chemicals used as fire retardants in computers, appliances, and household furnishings, which researchers suspect may cause cancer and stunt fetal brain development. “Exposure to brominated fire retardants is unavoidable,” concluded a study by […]

Separating the Wheat From the Chaff

Monsanto Abandons Plans for GM Wheat With little fanfare, biotech-food giant Monsanto announced yesterday that it would abandon plans to introduce genetically modified wheat to the market. Anti-GM activists, who have fought Monsanto’s plans for some five years, celebrated the announcement as a major victory. However, the impetus for the shift was likely not the […]

Win Diesel

EPA Announces New Diesel Regulations Today the U.S. EPA put in place tough new regulations on off-highway diesel engines — tractors, bulldozers, locomotives, etc. — which produce more soot than the nation’s entire on-road vehicle fleet. The agency says the regs will cut emissions from such equipment by 90 percent over a decade by requiring […]